I. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates generally to apparatus and methods for wireless communications, and more particularly to providing sensor data from a mobile device to multiple web-based applications.
II. Background
Currently, web-based applications, sometimes called server applications, that require sensor data from a mobile device have a corresponding client application executing on the mobile device. Some of these client applications run on the mobile device continuously. With the wide variety of sensors being integrated into mobile devices and growing interest in the community to leverage sensor data in innovative ways, such client applications on the mobile device are increasing in popularity and use. These multiple client applications come from different sources, communicate with different servers, and may each consume large amounts of power and processing cycles from the mobile device. Unless these multiple client applications are from a common vendor, they are as a whole uncoordinated with each other and query the sensors randomly and redundantly. A sensor may be interrupted with overlapping requests when a single coordinated response would have sufficed. Additionally, web developers and researchers interested in mobile sensor data must write a separate client application for each server application and for each mobile device platform, thereby increasing development costs and prolonging development time. From a user's standpoint, the user needs to install multiple client applications for each of the different servers requesting sensor data and to recharge batteries more often.
Therefore, a platform should exist that reduces a number of client applications running on a mobile device, coordinate sensor requests, minimize or eliminate code development on the mobile device platform, and/or reduce power consumption in providing sensor data to server applications.